USAT: Jaguars Wire audio clip

USAT: Jaguars Wire

Mar 6, 2022

When evaluating what the Jacksonville Jaguars need to do this offseason, one main area of concern is their lack of speed and explosiveness on offense. That’s an issue that could get even worse if the team doesn’t retain receiver DJ Chark Jr. on the outside, who is widely believed to be the Jags’ most dangerous vertical threat. - Even if the Jags retain Chark, more explosiveness is needed on the offense to help quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who was excellent at creating big-time plays at Clemson. However, he had options like Justyn Ross, Amari Rodgers, and Tee Higgins back then, all of whom were some of the best receivers in college at their peak. - The Jags’ lack of explosiveness is something general manager Trent Baalke also mentioned at the combine this week, so it appears that he and new coach Doug Pederson are ready to address the issue soon in free agency. There are options like pending free agents Chris Godwin, Davante Adams and Allen Robinson who could be available, and with approximately $55 million in cap space at the Jags’ disposal, none of them are out of the Jags’ price range. - However, another receiver under the radar and who could help the Jags is Arizona’s Christian Kirk. He’ll be coming off a career-high of 77 catches for 982 receiving yards despite being on a team stacked with talent within its offense. But quarterback Kyler Murray wants a contract extension — and with the Cardinals about $2,000 under the cap, it’s possible retaining their pending free agents could get complicated. - According to ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss, Kirk is expected to have a hot market, so if the Jags want him, it appears they will have some competition. With Kirk being young (25) alongside his production, he could be an expensive (but certainly manageable) signing. Spotrac predicts his market value to be around $11.8 million annually over four years, but if he’s in high demand as reported he’ll likely exceed that number. However, if that’s the figure he ends up with, Kirk’s total contract could end up around the $47.2 million range overall. - Should the Jaguars pursue Kirk this offseason? - When it comes to explosive plays and speed, it’s easy to see why the Jags could be interested in Kirk. After all, the organization witnessed it first hand as Kirk had an impressive Week 3 against the Jags by totaling seven catches for 104 yards. That’s a figure that was good for a season-high as Kirk played in all 17 of Arizona’s regular-season games. - The next question worth considering is how the Jags would use Kirk in their scheme, and whether or not he will put up the figures worth a contract that could guarantee around the $20 million range or more. During his last season in Arizona, he saw a majority of his snaps in the slot (736), while 202 snaps were taken on the outside. However, in Kirk’s previous three seasons, his snaps on the outside outweighed his snaps in the slots. - Clearly, in this case, the Jags would be getting a highly versatile weapon that could hurt teams from various positions. That said, it’s easy to see Kirk being viewed by Pederson as a Jordan Matthews type player, who Pederson utilized a good amount in the slot and on the outside during his first year as a head coach (2016). - Something worth considering before signing Kirk is how they view Jamal Agnew, who looked like he could be a star for the Jags in the slot. If the new staff wants him to focus on special teams, signing Kirk also makes sense because it frees up snaps in the slot for a new receiver. - If Kirk signed, it seems he’d have the potential to be more successful in Jacksonville as he’d easily be their most accomplished receiver under the age of 30 (even over Chark). In a place like Jacksonville, he could be a 1,000-yard receiver regularly as their receiver’s room isn’t nearly as crowded with stars. At the same time, their quarterback situation has the potential to be better than Arizona’s, too. - If the Jags view Kirk’s outlook similarly, he could be a great signing for them. However, if he has several suitors, it will be on general manager Trent Baalke to find the right figure to pay him, and potentially on Pederson to wow him with the offense and his role in it. - - - - In this week’s episode of “Touchdown Jaguars!” we looked at the top needs for the Jags heading into the NFL Combine. Progressing forward, we will continue to put out weekly episodes, giving Jags Wire readers a new go-to podcast, which will discuss the latest in news, rumors, and more. To stay up to date, subscribe via Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and also feel free to rate and comment. - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Jaguars Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Jaguars Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

F i l t e r   &   S o r t